LOVE WARRIOR NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!

LOVE WARRIOR NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!

They Believed They Could. So They Did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October 22, 2015

Lately, more than ever — I’ve turned on the news and then turned it off in what might be called a teeny bit of despair. This is what I usually think:

So much pain. So much callousness. So much hopelessness.

I need to believe.

I need to believe that the world is good.

I need to believe that people care.

I need to believe that the light is more powerful than the darkness.

I need to believe that it is finally time for women to lead. For us to turn this car around and lead us to peace.

I need to believe that I am PART of something bigger than myself.

I need to believe, I need to believe I need to believe…

And then I remember:

Life is about noticing what you need to believe. And then MAKING IT SO.

Leadership is offering the world exactly what you need — before you have it.

LOVE IS GIVING YOURSELF AND OTHERS SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN.

I am sitting in my kitchen writing this and the tears won’t stop coming because:

I BELIEVE IN US.

Thank you for MAKING THESE THINGS SO:

The world is good.

People care.

Light will always will always will always overcome the darkness.

There is no force. NO FORCE greater than love.

Our time has come.

We are not alone. We are part of something bigger than ourselves.

We can do hard things.

We Belong to Each Other.

Love Wins.

And now: A word of breathless gratitude from the ones basking in your light:

Dear Lovers of Women, Dear Sisters that Show Up,

This thing you have done in the last 24 hours — Can you even believe it?! (No.I am sure not. Because SO unbelievable.)

I am writing for all of us at the Heartline Maternity Center when I say, we don’t at all comprehend or believe what you just did. We want you all to know this: The depth and breadth of this love will unfold for years to come. **YEARS**

When we consider that each life is ascribed unsurpassable worth, and that this gift you’ve given will allow many more women to give birth safely – where they will be honored as individuals, and surrounded by love … And then you consider how love changes people and they take that love they receive and go touch others.

There is literally no way to quantify what this Love Flash Mob has birthed in Port au Prince, Haiti.

We feel all the things right now. Not an exhaustive list: Grateful, Excited, Nervous, Thrilled, Humbled, Anxious, Jubilant, Hopeful -and mostly, Overwhelmed by Love.Thursday each week the pregnant women all gather for class, community, and consultations. Today as we gather we will be celebrating how loved and worthy each woman is and celebrating the gift you have given.

Jittery with Joy –

Tara Livesay for the entire staff at Heartline M.C.

And: a message from Ann, our beloved midwife in Germany:

“I am so amazed by your community!!!! I was crying as I read through all the comments, so much LOVE there. We feel it. I think last week we all had a little moment of darkness as it was continually getting colder, women and children were cold and there was no BREAK from all that. Refugees just kept coming and everything and everyone was overwhelmed. Thanks to your amazing community we can now provide things that will give a little light, a little warmth! Many thanks!!!!”

On the left is Jeanne, one of the midwives volunteering in Berlin right now. And on the right is a mom who was just came into their office for help this morning. Jeanne told her that we are coming.

“They’re coming,” she said. “Our sisters are coming.”

I can’t say any more words. That’s all I’ve got. If life gets any more beautiful than: Our Sisters Are Coming, then I just won’t be able to take it.

107 Comments

I loved this flashmob so much! I’m wondering if you will be doing any more flash mobs on behalf of refugees? I’m feeling so lost on who to give to, and how I can help – and if I’m feeling this way, I’m sure many others are, too.

It is humbling to be in the presence of something that is SO FREAKING HOLY I can’t even. I can’t. Who says miracles don’t happen in a big way? Glennon, you are my Shero, and sister monkees, I bow at your feet. Thank you for giving me hope in this world.

I have been in a wild goose chase for who Glennon is based upon my late wife’s talking with me.I believe I have found the correct individual. My wife and niece passed away unexpectedly over the course of this past week. I have been instructed to gift funds from their savings and in memory of them to Glennon’s project. Please direct me to where and how these funds should be handled.

Tobey, I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m sure you are in the right place! There’s no one else quite like Glennon and the Momastery community. I hope someone has gotten back to you about how to donate the funds your wife and niece wanted to. If not, the charitable project is called Together Rising (www.togetherrising.org) and has a 501(c)(3) tax id, so your donations are tax deductible. I’m sure they can arrange for you to make a donation in your wife and niece’s memory. It will be a wonderful legacy. God bless all of you.

This and you are awesome. As an agnostic/almost atheist (not searching, no intentions of finding religion), I LOVED the part about you being more skeptical than an atheist. I love that you made sure the group would help anyone and wasn’t there to convert people. And I love that you are pro-love for all (gay marriage etc.) despite (you would probably say because of) your religion. I LOVE that there are people like YOU speaking out on issues.

Go Glennon! P.S. I wish I would have known you could actually donate more than 25…

Yes, yes, yes. “Our sisters are coming.” Because that’s what sisters do. I am lucky enough to have four sisters who always show up for me. Thank you, G, for allowing us to sister these women in a big way this week.

Beautiful what you wrote! “Allowing us to sister these women…” Glennon just puts all of herself out there and then in a tiny way I can come. All you women give me the courage to say YES your sisters are coming. We are coming!

Have you thought about joining forces with Humans of New York on any of these? You are both a force for such good in the world, and you have such kind and good hearted followers/communities. HONY recently did a series featuring the refugees in Europe, and raised money for UNHCR. I bet HONY supporters would help the midwives in Germany.

I just reread the post because I was so moved by it yesterday I’m not even sure I took it all in!! I saw the thing about giving $25 “max”… is this a real thing?? I accidentally gave more. Please reassure me that all of what I gave will go to Haiti and to Germany 😉

Thank you to all the organizers of this awesome event! I know it takes a lot of work, and I am so grateful for the time and energy you donate. What an amazingly powerful result. Prayers for all who donated and all who will benefit!

this feels so great to be part of… sisters belonging to each other. this has made my week. I shared it with my daughter who is 15 and a monkee too and it means so very much to her and all of us. thank you, g and sister in case of emergency and amy and craig and all others who worked and sweated and organized this tangible love for mamas and their babies and families! love, Ashley

I love the opportunities you give us to reach out to other women across the world and share our blessings with them. Thank you for everything you do – you make a difference in the lives of those who receive, but we also are blessed by the chance to help. Looking forward to the updates on the Haitian centre and how the money is helping mothers and their precious babies who are fleeing troubles too.

My 9yo son and I read together about this opportunity, and he read my debit card # out loud while I typed, and he clicked on the ‘Donate’ button. Then he told me the story of a classmate who has just moved here from Haiti, and how he survived the earthquake, and how this kid is the smartest in his class. I think about how small this world really is. I think about my son taking in the stories of others, and the knowledge that we can do a small thing to help. I think about him being a boy, and how all this sisterhood talk must strike him.

Thank you for giving us a chance to engage with both the weight and the wonders of the world on so many levels.

G – could you please run for President? I know you don’t do politics, but we need you…our country needs you. Can you imagine all the good you could do? Remember, we can do hard things! You’ve got my vote!

Thank-you for making it possible to be a part of a group of sisters rising together at a time in my life where I am feeling vulnerable. We ALL have so much love to give- thanks for helping to light the way!

Thank you, Glennon, for giving those of us who don’t know where to begin to help (but want to help so badly) a place to do so. Also, can I tell you how I love the idea of the $25 MAX on the donation? That is genius. I always want to donate to different things, but when donations start at $25 or $50, sometimes that just isn’t possible. So thank you for opening my eyes to the fact that by many giving a small portion we can still make a huge difference. So thankful I could help.

I totally understand the idea behind the max donation of $25, but I wish the limit had been higher (or honestly, that there hadn’t been a limit at all). If people are willing to donate MORE money, and in turn do MORE good for the Haitians and refugees, why discourage that? Regardless, I love all the good you’re doing in this world – bringing people together to help one another is the most important work there is.

Tiffany, I completely understand your desire to give more and your reasons why. Can I share with you the joy that I feel when I give, knowing the top limit is $25.00? Here’s the thing, I can’t give more. I have never been able to give more. When I give to a Love Flash Mob, I am an equal member of the sisterhood. I know that love makes me an equal member, but here’s the thing, I feel just a teeny bit “less than” equal when I give $25.00 and someone else writes a check for $500.00. It’s a thing. The $25.00 limit makes me a full participating member. And then we get to watch more and more monkees join, knowing that we won’t be able to get the job done unless we ALL contribute to get the job done. If I want to do more, I have to do my part to increase membership in the Mob! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE FLASH MOB DAY! Thank you so much Glennon and all involved in putting this together. Now y’all need to get some rest! Sleep well tonight Warriors.

I understand where you’re coming from, I really do. And please take what I’m about to say the way it is intended – with love and compassion.

I want what we do for those in need to be about THOSE IN NEED, not about how we feel when we donate. So while I understand your feelings about donating $25 when someone else donates $500, aren’t your feelings beside the point? I think this is a great example of when we need to step outside of ourselves and truly put the wellbeing of a group in need over our own desires and insecurities.

Tiffany, I totally understand your perspective. As I understand it, having followed and loved Momastery for a while now, they(we) do things a little differently than many charities. Here, it IS about the giver as well as the receiver. We are all both, maybe at different times in our lives and maybe in different ways. We change ourselves at the same time as we change the world. Same thing.

Tiffany,
There’s nothing stopping you from donating $25 lot of times (I donated $15 twice), and I don’t think it rejects any larger numbers. But Glennon is asking us to make these donations to the Flash Mob small, and those small donations together makes it much more sustainable and about sisterhood. For example, if I can give $100 a year charitably outside of my usual donations, and there are 4 flash mobs a year, I might give $50 to the first one, $30 to the second, $15 to the third and only have $5 for the last. By capping it at $25, every need gets addressed a lot more evenly and we have surplus leftover for the more nitty-gritty, less heartwarming needs. You can always cut a check to Together Rising or other organization if you feel moved to give more, but these Flash Mobs are about how all our little lights together really make a difference. This is like an old-fashioned barn raising. A crane might be more efficient, but it makes people feel redundant.

From one Tiffany to Another: When you have to lose 50 pounds (for example), the idea of the work you need to do is pretty overwhelming and it makes it hard to even start. But if someone encourages you to just think about losing 5 pounds first, you are more likely to embrace the challenge. Same goes with the $25 Max – it’s a mindset and an encouraging community. Nothing STOPS you from doing or giving more, but instead it is an encouraging way to help some get started and participate. We can do hard things!

From one Tiffany to Another: When you have to lose 50 pounds (for example), the idea of the work you need to do is pretty overwhelming and it makes it hard to even start. But if someone encourages you to just think about losing 5 pounds first, you are more likely to embrace the challenge. Same goes with the $25 Max – it’s a mindset and an encouraging community. Nothing STOPS you from doing or giving more, but instead it is an encouraging way to help some get started and participate. We can do hard things!

A-freaking-(WO)MEN!!! Way to sister, sisters. My heart overfloweth. Funny how that happens when we give, when we love, when we Get all the Hers of this world Rising. The blessings just recycle and circulate and expand and grow. I love this place and all of you in it. #lovewins #blessedup #togetherrising

My heart feels like it’s been electrified – in a good way – and I’ve felt so alive over the last 24 hours because of this love flash mob. What an incredibly beautiful thing to be a part of. I feel such a calling to do even more with this beautiful burden in the world and I can’t wait to see what that will look like.

Can I ask how much was needed to build the Love Wing and then how much extra we were able to give to Berlin?? So proud of this community and of women who are a shining example of what LOVE is supposed to look like in this world. Thank you <3

Glennon- thank you for reminding us that it is not hopeless! Sometimes I think that it’s no use, trying, because there is so much to fix, that nothing I do can put a dent in it. But when I think that I am wrong! It is not hopeless. The women of Haiti and in Berlin have today what they did not have 2 days ago. Thank you for what you did!

The “Love Train” song is still playing in my mind. 🙂
Beautiful work G and Amy and the whole Together Rising Board and Stewardship Team!!
I know there is a lot of hard work that goes into making this look easy.
You all are amazing!
Thank you for letting us all “get on board” and be a part of something this big together! <3

This makes my heart so full that it is running out of my eyes and down my cheeks. I’m so happy. This is such an amazing community. I love everything you, we, us, these sisters in life and warriors are doing. I feel such incredible joy for these women and children in Haiti and Berlin. In a hopeless place we gave them LOVE and HOPE! What a gift!!!!!! #LoveWins

Just absolutely amazing!! So glad I could be a part of this. Thank you Glennon for sharing the stories of these incredibly strong brave women and making their voices heard so we could help them. Sending so much love!!

I love this community so hard. I have tears in my eyes for about the bazillionth time through all of this. I have missed being a part of the last LFMs & it has made me sad even as I’ve been able to be gloriously pleased with what you all managed to do. Being a part of this one is something my heart needed right now.

My heart is bursting, love definitely wins, every time! Glennon, you ARE a rock star, wow, just wow, you should feel so proud of yourself for a job well-done. I can’t wait to see the transformation to the Heartline Center, this is awesome! ~xo

This is wonderful. Why no praise to God? The Holy Spirit who moves us? I havnt seen God mentioned once in this. Only glory to ourselves and not the one who provides for us. “She is Risen? She is Coming?” Coincidence? Play on words? Are we afraid people would not give if Jesus is referenced? 🙁

I decided to visit Heartline because I wanted to see the work with my own eyes, and also because I was a little bit worried about the religious aspect. I am a self proclaimed Jesus freak- but I am wholly uninterested in any organization that is trading love for Jesus. I only want to work with people who love without agenda or ulterior motive. I am more skeptical about this than any atheist I’ve ever met- my team will tell you that. I am the leader of this beautiful, diverse community made of all faiths and those who understand the world in ways unrelated to faith. So my job is to look at Love Work with ALL of our eyes. And I can tell you that if you believe in Love, you’d believe Heartline’s work. This work of fiercely and tenderly serving women and children. The work of loving the vulnerable and the marginalized and the forgotten like they are the most beloved creatures on Earth—cherished, adored, valued—because that is the truth. There is no trading service for religion here. Love with no strings attached is the agenda.

I’m not sure about you, but my religious beliefs include being proud of the work that you’re doing when it is Holy Work. I’m also not Christian. My path is not yours & your path is not mine. However, Momastery gives us a place to come together on love. Try to keep that in mind?

Besides, while I’m not Christian, I’m a firm believer that he was a smart man with great things to teach, & I grew up in church, & what I learned tells me that Jesus is already glorified by our actions without it having to be spelled out in black and white.

I *am* Christian, and your words really clarified things about my beliefs for me. (There’s an oft-quoted idea from St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel at all times–when necessary, use words,” but I think you might have improved on it!) So thank you for the reminder of how much we can learn from one another–not just about each other but about ourselves!

I am so glad this is a community where we can feel equally welcome, and it is clearly a richer one for your presence in it. <3

I really appreciated Glennon’s inclusiveness in these acts of service, making people of all faiths feel 100% a part of this beautiful work.

I believe that we were created in God’s image, that God’s attributes are reflected in the human heart. I also believe that work done in the spirit of service is worship. So God is all I see here in all of this incredible love and giving.

There’s no ego or selfish motive in celebrating the unity of purpose and vision that has yielded such amazing fruits, even if a particular person’s interpretation of God is not verbally given direct credit for it. God doesn’t need our public praise—He needs our collective action to build His Kingdom on Earth.

Don’t worry. For people who believe in God, this whole flash mob had His signature written all over it.

Yes. All the dittos. “God doesn’t need our public praise. He needs our collective action to build His kingdom on earth.” Thank you for this beautiful, eloquent statement that captures my thoughts better than I ever could. Amen.

Yes!!! I have also had a heart so saddened and heavy by despair. Lately, it has been so bad. I was really starting to wonder if we humans are worth it. Then….then..this happened. Crying tears of relief that I see the love, that it DID win. That we, as sisters, showed up. Thank you, Glennon and these sisters in Haiti and Germany who are doing so much.

OH! And I’m especially glad to know EXACTLY were every single penny is going. I don’t like to give to big corporate charities because I never know what they are going to do with it. THAT IS WHY I LOVE TOGETHER RISING! I see the faces, I know what is happening and I love it!

G, thank you for taking that beautiful, courageous, heartfelt risk all those years ago and blogging your list of 25 things we don’t have time to read and continuing to show up and be vulnerable and courageous in this brutiful world. Thank you to all who responded to G’s openness by doing the same. It is astounding what happens when we show up with love. I am honored to be part of this Flash Love Mob and I am looking for ways–big and small–to show up everyday in my own community with my own individual flashes of love. Thank you to everyone for inspiring me to show up and lift others up and to always keep my perspecticles firmly in place.

Even my crabby, jaded husband (who will not align himself with anything even mentioning “Christian ministry”) was moved to tears by this. To tears. He could not wrap his head around the immensity of the goodness. This community is a miracle. We are enabling sainthood. My heart is overflowing.

So beautiful! We belong to each other. This gives me hope, and peace, and overwhelming gratitude. One question: what was the goal amount for Haiti! How much is going to Berlin? So amazing. Thank you all so much.

I cannot imagine a time when I will not be a part of a love flash mob. It feels SO GOOD to be one of the sisters coming along sisters in Berlin and Port-au-Prince. Bless you and your team for being our leaders. Feeling All The Love Today.

Oh, Glennon. I am leaping with joy. I am so grateful for this community and being a part of it has changed me. It has taught me that I can show up, 6 hours from home, to see you, and that I am not alone or uncomfortable, I am home, I am loved and I AM love. Because, my sisters are coming. They are sitting beside me and organizing the event, and they are on stage and they are in the balcony. My sisters are coming, they are present, and together we are love.

Not only the mothers and babies benefit, but we all have help local Haitians with employment during this construction allowing Haitians to help Haitians as the love is rippling. I am honored and humbled to be a small part of also helping our sisters in Berlin. I have always wondered if every person just gave a dollar the changes that could occur…. Now I know…so thank you G and also to all of the sisters who showed up!

i cannot stop weeping with joy and gratitude. What a gift to be a drop in this ocean of love. Thanks Glennon for your leadership. Thanks everyone for your generosity. Let’s carry on, and do it again very soon.

I needed this…in a world that can so often appear more brutal than beautiful, it feels amazing to be part of such a win for goodness and beauty and life. Thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing me to be a drop in a beautiful bucket that is literally overflowing with hope and joy!

Almost half as much raised in one 24 hour Flash Mob as was raised in the all the others… Actually, I must confess, I was hoping we’d get to that full half – because $500,000 has such a nice round appearance! 😉 BUT, whoa, so, so close – over $475k. Wow!

I am proud to be a small part of the Sisters that are Coming, of this amazing group of brutiful people that jump in and help Love on people that need Love and Hope and more Love!

Thank you for your vision, Glennon, and for acting on it and starting Momastery and Together Rising and for giving us all an opportunity to be part of it!

This is my second Love Flash Mob to participate in, but let me tell you why this one is special. The worst time in my life was 10 years ago at 33 when I had to have a hysterectomy. No babies of my own. But all children are my children. Thank you, G, for letting me help all these beautiful babies and their mamas. It’s an honor to be a sister that is coming. May we all keep showing up.

Thank you, Glennon, for working and organizing and sweating and crying and freaking out and loving and caring and cheerleading and believing and having a beautiful heart and hiding in your closet and coming out into the world of moms who need sisters that help and being your wild and authentic self.

Our Sisters Are Coming…..one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. Thank you for allowing all of us to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. We are a little…no big tribe and our leader is you G…..Thank you for being our most gracious, raw, sensitive leader…..We love you. Thank you for teaching us to show up.

I have a pretty fantastic sister, and I love being a sister. Today, being counted as on of these sisters is like standing on holy ground. Thanks for bringing together this sisterhood of love. It is just the purest kind of joy.